Attorneys Argue For and Against Alki David’s Antenna Services

If you’ve been keeping up with the court saga surrounding Alki David’s antenna services FilmOn X and Aereokiller, here’s yet another chapter.

As you might recall, courts on the East Coast have allowed Barry Diller’s Aereo service to keep running, but a federal judge in Los Angeles partially enjoined David’s Aereokiller. Tuesday, a three-judge panel of the 9th circuit met in California to hear attorneys Ryan Baker and Baker Marquart’s arguments against the injunction.

Baker argued that a ruling for the “discreet” and “unique” mini-antenna technology is in the “public’s interest.” He stated that FilmOn X only allows viewers to access network programming in the same way as someone with a traditional antenna from a store. Also, Baker argued, the Transit Clause of the Copyright Act allows a “private transmission” of the network’s content that makes the service lawful.

However, the attorneys for FOX and NBC argued something different. FOX attorney Paul Smith, from Los Angeles law firm Jenner & Block, said the Copyright Act requires Aereokiller and FilmOn X to have licenses, just like a cable company. NBC attorney Robert Garret also argued against Baker’s claim that using the service is a “private performance,” stating that broadcasting the same program to 50,000 people at the same time is nothing but.